By 8.00 am, the courtyard of Kathibudhi Sahoo’s home
in the village of Bandhamundi is covered by a layer of
gold.
Bent over, combing her fingers through the paddy, she looks up
and smiles. ‘This is how my family survives’, she says as she spreads out the paddy to
dry for her next lot of puffed rice, or mudhi, as the
people call it in Orissa. Kathibudhi is a member of
the Mayurbhanj Mahila Association (MMA)—an all woman
collective of Mudhi producers in the district of
Mayurbhanj in Orissa in India. The cooperative was
formed in 2002 when a small group of 10 women came
together on an experimental basis to sell their mudhi
collectively.

KATHIBUDHI SAHOO

Being a part of the staple diet in the area, mudhi is
consumed in every home and hence, also prepared in each
home. Everyone was skeptical when the cooperative first
began, the women included. Today, there are 120 women who
are members of the cooperative and rely on the income they
earn from producing mudhi and selling it to people all
across the state of Orissa through MMA.

Before joining the cooperative, Kathibudhi used to work as
a domestic help in the homes of slightly affluent families
in her village. She used to make mudhi for these families,
labouring for 6 hours each day for a sum of Rs. 10—her
daily wage. In 1999, she joined a Self- Help Group (SHG)
in her hamlet, Indira Mahila Mandal. Along with the other
members of the group, she would save some money each
month. The group also acted as a platform for the members
to discuss issues pertinent to the lives of women. That
was when she and some of her friends realized that this
skill of theirs, the art of making mudhi, could yield
better economic returns for all of them.

‘My Father-in- Law taught me how to make mudhi. Her
Mother- in- Law has kept ill for a very long time now and
has not helped out in the kitchen. She says that her
Father-in- Law has always been a big support for her.
Growing up in the village of Pakhadhar near the town of
Balasore 70 kilometers from Bandhamundi, life was a
struggle for Kathibudhi. The youngest among her seven
brothers and sisters, she was always pampered at home. Her
name, ‘Kathibudhi’, is a common pet name for the youngest
girl child in a family. She says that she feels ashamed
that no one addresses by her real name—Binoti. When the
officials were surveying the village for an update in the
electoral rolls, her Father-in- Law put her name down as
Kathibudhi. She says that perhaps she lost some of her
identity through that. Yet, she considers herself a very
lucky person to have married into this home. At her
paternal home, she never got a chance to attend school. In
the struggle to feed the family, her parents, daily wage
earners did not emp asize on sending the children to
school. She says that she wants her two daughters --Tanuja
and Namita- and son, Debabrata to study. Tanuja is
studying to take her matriculation exams this year, an
important step in the life of every student. A few years
ago, she was unable to pay for the education of her
children. Her eldest daughter, Tanuja, was staying with a
relative in the town of Balasore. There were complaints
that the girl was not doing well in school so she was
brought back home. Still unable to pay Rs. 100 a month on
her daughter’s education, Kathibudhi thought that she
would have to drop out of school. But the girl, determined
to study, told her mother that she would borrow money from
people in her village to pay for her monthly tuition fee.
Since joining the cooperative, Kathibudhi has never
delayed the payment of the fees for her children’s’
education—Rs. 250 every month for the three children.

Her paternal home was also rife with violence. Growing up
in a village of daily wage earners, a lot of men in the
village spent their daily
wage
earnings on alcohol. Bandhamundhi, on the other hand is a
peaceful village where families in have always had strong
organic ties. Her husband, to date, gives her all his
earnings to run the home, never spending any money
himself. Narendra Sahoo has been earning his own living
from the time he was a boy of 8. All these years of
physical labour have taken a toll on his health. At the
age of 40 now, he is unable to put in more than 2-3 days
of work each week. He works with a group of men on a
tractor that transports bricks. Given his health and the
seasonality of the brick kiln industry where work stops
during the monsoon, he manages to earn about Rs. 200 each
week.

They do not own any land and belong to the fishing
community. Although the village Bandhamundi is located on
the banks of the river Subarnarekha, many people who were
dependent on the river for their livelihood as fishermen
and women cannot work there due to a drop in the
population of the fish. In the absence of skills, they are
forced to supplement their income from fishing by working
as labour. This is how this family also survives. They
take some land On lease each year and have to give half
the paddy produced from it to the owner of the land. The
paddy cultivated from these fields feeds this family of
seven for four months each year.

Things were always difficult for the family financially.
Before she joined the SHG in her village, the family would
have to borrow money from the local money lender to
survive. At that time, she was paying Rs. 900 a month as
interest on aloan of Rs. 9000 from the local money lender.
With the SHG, she could borrow at a rate of 3% per month.
She took loan from the group to pay off her older loan and
repaid that amount in monthly installments to her SHG. But
she was still not earning enough money to lift her family
out of the poverty they were living in, very often having
to eat only two meals a day. In 2003 she took the leap of
faith to join the cooperative in order to bring about some
changes in her life.Since then, she has always had money
to feed the family.

In 2006, she took a loan of Rs. 30000 from the bank to
construct a pucca house. She withdrew Rs.
20000 for the construction and has repaid Rs. 9500 so far.
Recently she discovered that an official at the bank has
made a Fixed Deposit of Rs. 10000 without her knowledge.
She says that had she known to read and write, this would
not have happened. With the help of the cooperative, a
meeting was organized with the Chairman of the bank where
she raised this concern before the Official. She told the
Chairman that she has been repaying her loans regularly,
putting aside a part of her earnings from Mudhi to repay
her monthly installment.

She has displayed a similar discipline with her mudhi
production too. She has been one of the most regular
suppliers to the cooperative from the 100- odd members. On
an average, she has supplied the cooperative with 125 Kgs
of mudhi each month, well over the cooperative norm of 50
kgs per month. At a price of Rs. 15 per Kg, she ahs earned
an average of Rs. 1875 every month with a profit of Rs.
1000. Looking at the records maintained by the
cooperative, there is one exception in her ledger—August
2006 when the area received a very heavy monsoon. The
bamboo and mud hut that they lived in was barely enough to
protect her family from the rains, making it impossible to
collect firewood And roast the rice to make mudhi.

After joining the cooperative MMA, she has also become
more active in the community. Previously, she used to be
caught up in work outside the home as well as domestic
chores. Now though, she does manage to find some time for
her family as well as contribute to the SHG and her
community. She says that she feels an increased sense of
respect for herself now that she is earning her income
from home and not labouring at someone else’s. Being at
home also permits her some time with the children where
she can act as a parent and guide.

During the village level meeting of the Gram Panchayat,
the Palli Sabha, she was an active member of a group who
were advocating for the equal participation of women in
the system of local- self governance. 10 representatives
are nominated to be responsible for all development
schemes implemented in the village. Men have traditionally
held these posts. After the women protested, the Palli
Sabha said that they would allow for 2 women to be among
the representatives. Kathibudhi and the rest of the women
would not compromise of this stand. The meeting turned
violent and she was even hit on her head by a brick after
which she was unconscious for two hours. After refusing to
relent, they Palli Sabha finally accepted the proposal and
5 women were nominated to the body of representatives. She
expresses her discontent at the manner in which political
parties function, serving their needs before those of the
poor.

When asked about what she looks for from the future, she
smiles—a smile of hope. She realizes that with the
deteriorating health of her husband, soon she will be the
only earning member in her family. She says that as a
parent it is her responsibility to provide her children
with the best possible education so that they have to
opportunity to make something of their lives—giving them a
fair chance. She hopes that they grow up to be good human
beings and that she has instilled in them the discipline
to work hard. And she hopes that they do not have to
struggle they way she has. She says that her life has
become more secure since she has joined the cooperative
knowing that she will always have her income from mudhi
and the support of the other women members to fall back
on.